8. Kate
The foamy waves crash savagely on the beach twenty yards from where I’m kneeling in the sand, attaching the radiosonde to its red balloon tether. The salty tang of the sea air is so thick I can taste it while I focus, powering on the GPS and responder. My attention is aimed like a laser beam on the mechanism. So much so, I don’t notice anyone approaching through the sheets of rain until black boots land inches from my knees in the sand.
“Oh,” I exclaim, my hand flying to my chest. “Thank goodness you’re—”
I trail off as I shield my eyes and raise my gaze. Rather than seeing the Director of Lifeguard Services, I find Aiden, mad as hell, with his hands curled into fists, staring down at me.
“What are you doing here?” I exclaim, brushing clumps of wet hair out of my face as I scramble to my feet.
“I could ask you the same.”
I lift my chin. “At the moment, I’m preparing to release a radiosonde, but then I’ll be recording visual observations from the lifeguard tower.”
“That so?”
Aiden’s jaw clenches so tight I’m afraid he might actually combust, but my work—and my safety—is none of his concern, as I told him earlier.
“I have express permission,” I add, unable to hide the satisfaction from my smile. “Mr. Townsend approved my access and is sending over the Director of Lifeguard Services to let me—”
“I’m Director of Lifeguard Services.”
What?
“Since when?”
“Three years ago, March.”
“Why didn’t you say that this morning?”
“What?”
“This morning,” I repeat, clutching the tether of the balloon whipping around in the wind. “You said you were a lifeguard.”
“It’s true. I am a lifeguard.”
Grr, this man. Now, we’re getting down to semantics?
“Fine. Well, either way, once I release these, I’ll be ready to observe the storm from the tower.” I point to the two radiosondes left in my duffel bag.
“You have ten seconds to do whatever you need to do with this one.”
That’s not going to work for me, but I know enough about effective communication—and Aiden Landry—to know arguing isn’t the best course of action.
“I’m going to need ten minutes.”
“Kate,” he starts, grabbing me by both shoulders as if he can will some sense into me. “Stop. Look. Listen. Feel the power of what you’re up against. This storm is here, and you…you have nothing to prove.”
His dark eyes implore me to listen, to hear him. He’s always been protective. It was one of the many things I loved about him. With Aiden by my side, I always felt safe.
But that was then. This is now. And he might be right, but he’s also a pot calling the kettle black. It isn’t his job to protect me anymore. He lost that right eight years ago.
“Neither do you.”
Before he can answer, a bolt of lightning blazes across the sky. The bright flash illuminates the swirling gray clouds with a white-hot brilliance unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as a deafening crack reverberates through the air, one that ricochets deep in my chest. A zip of energy, almost like static electricity but a thousand times more intense, and tangible in a way I can’t describe, sizzles through the atmosphere. The sensation is unsettling as my breath catches.
I meet Aiden’s gaze. The pleading in his eyes has darkened to terror. Before I know it, he’s pulled me into his arms, wrapping his entire body around me.
“We need to move. Now.” The direct command spoken directly in my ear doesn’t invite any argument, not that I have one in me.
I let go of the balloon, all of my senses on high alert as he grabs my duffel bag and, with one arm wrapped around my waist, hauls me across the sand toward the lifeguard station. Once we reach the door of the brick tower, he drops the bag and fumbles one handed with a set of keys, as if he doesn’t want to release me.
“This is the safest location around.” The statement is supposed to be reassuring but doesn’t feel that way, what with the set of his jaw and the way his fingers dig into my hip.
And as far as structural soundness, impact-resistant windows, and elevated construction goes, I don’t doubt this tower is safe. But such close quarters with the man who, I realize now, still owns a huge chunk of my heart? It’s more perilous than the conditions outside.
“You don’t believe me?”
“What?”
“Your lip,” he says, nodding toward my mouth as he turns the key. “You’re nibbling on it the way you always did when there was something you didn’t agree with.”
The door swings open, and we burst inside, out of the pouring rain and gale-force winds and into the darkness. Aiden closes the door, shutting out the storm and plunging us into a deafening silence. Until he turns the lock and it clicks into place.
“You’re safe here,” he murmurs, flipping on the lights, but not releasing me.
I don’t glance around. My eyes are pinned on this man I once thought was my forever.
“Am I?”
His brow furrows, as if he’s trying to puzzle out my question.
“You don’t think so?”
I don’t.
I shake my head slowly from side to side. Maybe, it’s the hurricane or perhaps, being back in Love Beach and seeing him after all this time. Or maybe, it’s the fact I haven’t slept with anyone in a very long time. And the last person was the boy I lost my virginity to. The man staring at me now. But my brain and my heart are warring, taking up arms on opposing sides of the same battle. I have no clue which side will win. “It’s not the safest location for me if you’re staying.”
He shifts to stand in front of me and brushes away a sopping lock of hair stuck to my face. “Believe me, Kate. There is nowhere on earth I’d rather be.”
Then, as if to prove his point, Aiden leans down and kisses me.
In a heartbeat, the tables turn, and the storm raging outside is nothing compared to the fierce press of his lips against mine. A touch that, in a split second, becomes all-consuming. A touch that scatters eight years’ worth of anger and the million questions I have. None of that matters right now. The trajectory is set. And, like a row of dominoes, one touch sets the chain reaction into motion.